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Structure of the segmental trunk muscle in amphioxus

With notes on the course and “endings” of the so-called ventral root fibres

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Summary

Light and electron microscopy of the segmental trunk muscle in amphioxus demonstrate at least two types of muscle fibre or muscle lamella.

One kind of lamella is narrow and located just beneath the lateral surface of the muscle. It contains mainly irregular myofibrils, mitochondria and glycogen particles and is in cytoplasmic continuity with the so-called thin ventral root fibres. The other kind of lamella is very wide and extends from the lateral to the medial surface of the myotome. It contains mainly myofilaments and is in cytoplasmic continuity with the so-called thick ventral root fibres. These two kinds of lamella probably correspond to sarcoplasma-rich (i. e. slow) and sarcoplasmapoor (i. e. fast) muscle fibres of higher chordates.

Some other muscle lamellae are tentatively identified as a third, intermediate, type. These are intermediate between the above mentioned two kinds of lamella in size and structure and probably join the thick ventral root fibres.

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  1. Anatomical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Per R. Flood

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Acknowledgement. I am greatly indebted to Mrs. Karin Bruerø, Miss Berit I. Rotvoll, Mr. R. Jensen and Mr. J. Røli for technical assistance, to Professor W. Harkmark, M. D., and Professor J. Jansen, M. D., for correction of the manuscript, and to Dr. Q. Bone and Dr. E. Mugnaini for continued interest and kind support during the whole study. -My sincere thanks are also forwarded to the Marine Laboratory in Plymouth for continued hospitality, good working facilities and supply of material, and to the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities for financial support.

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Flood, P.R. Structure of the segmental trunk muscle in amphioxus. Z. Zellforsch. 84, 389–416 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334754

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